WitchCRAFT: DIY Antique book e-reader cover

I read. A lot. I love books. I have since I was four and started reading books to myself out on the well cover in my yard. Books have been my window on other parts of the world, other lives. Books have been my escape, my refuge, my friends. I love the feel of old paper; the smell; the creamy colour of the center of the page and the ruddy foxing on the perimeter. But I also love my e-reader.
I live many, many miles from a bookstore, and owning an e-reader means I can order a book in my pajamas in the middle of the night, and have instant access to it. It may not be as good as a real, weighty physical tome, but I can read it and that’s the most important thing.
I wanted to make my e-reader feel a little more like reading a “real” book, so I began looking for a cover that looked like an old book. They were all so expensive, and I had the idea that I could DIY one.
I modified Yumi Sakugawa’s technique here, by using a uniform piece of black felt as the inner fabric, and adding an elastic that can stretch over the cover to hold it closed.
The entire project cost me about $5. The book I used for the cover – “Our Trees & Woodlands” – was $1 at a used book store. A piece of felt, some elastic, some glue, and some thin cardboard from the recycling bin were all I needed.

The top book is my e-reader.

Materials: an old book cover, some cardboard, felt, elastic, scissors, ruler, glue.

The book cover with the closing elastic glued on. The lining felt is shown with the cardborad backing glued on and the elastics threaded through the slots.

The back side of the felt liner.

My e-reader in the finished cover.

The cover can be flipped around the back for comfort in reading.

The elastic flipped around from the back to keep the cover closed.